Practical everyday supports for persons with autism and learning disabilities.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

They Are Hunting Autistics and Jews: UPDATE

First we hear about a mother who kills her autistic son and how terrible that was for her. Not for him, he was only the victim. But society has deemed him irrelevant because he was disabled. The world rings its collective hands about the horrible situation that the mother found herself. The despondency. The lack of support.

No one talks about George Hodgins who was taken out of the only world he had known, his school, and not given a new place to go that would allow him to be happy and productive simply because he turned 22. He sat at home with his mother everyday. No one talks about George who lacked peers, friendship and an outlet for his soul. No one talks about George. No one talks about what George lost being deprived of his life. No one talks about George being betrayed by the very person who was supposed to love him beyond her own capacity to love herself. Perhaps in her way she did, but if George was not disabled everyone would call her evil, selfish, vile. But because George was autistic society tries to find excuses for this murderous act. George is not seen as part of the equation. Society considers him not human.

I have to be honest, I have a recurring nightmare. I have to prove the value of my children's lives. It is a really odd dream. I know rather morbid. I can't explain it. They say we dream about what we fear the most. I fear losing my children as any descent parent would. In law, when there is a wrongful death suit the aggrieved party has to prove the value of the deceased's life in order to collect on a wrongful death claim. Yeah I know this is the lawyer in me. Only a lawyer would dream a court scene.

As the trial gets underway, the defense table asks for a dismissal because there is no reason to pay out on the claim even if his client is found guilty. "The victims were autistic and have no known longterm value," he says. I try to argue with the judge bringing up name after name of famous persons who were on the autistic spectrum or thought to be on the spectrum and the contributions they made to society. I bring up the fact that autistics are human beings and entitled to life because they are alive and that no one has a right to shorten their God given right to life. But to no avail. I bring up that the boys are in college and headed for careers. But to no avail. The judge dismisses the case.

This is when I jolt upright from my nightmare. I think in the back of my mind I already know that society in the longrun does not consider my children equal members of the human race and they consider them not worthy of that equality. Oh they can give them accommodations and support and every form of aide available, but I know deep down inside how society views my children.That is what frightens me the most.

I know that's why I fight this fight. I know that is why my work is never done. Not simply because the boys need support and help with school and jobs and every other aspect of their world, but because society has yet to come to terms with the fact that the disabled are their equals and in many cases the disabled are even society's betters.

So for all the George's and my boys and your children too, who have a right to support and a full and complete future I fight and fight and fight and fight......even if it is no more than a blog, a twitter account, a facebook account, a discussion with professors and support personnel. Even if it never amounts to more than my own little circle, I talk and I educate and I talk and I educate.

Yesterday, in Toulouse France, someone murdered a rabbi, his two children and another little girl in front of their Yeshiva. A fourth child remains in critical condition. The killer road up on a scooter and opened fire. After he killed the rabbi and his sons, he stopped, got off the scooter, chased down an 8-year-old girl and murdered her execution style. He then calmly got back on his scooter and road away. Witnesses say he had camera equipment attached to his helmet so he could film his endeavors.

French authorities have matched the ballistics to other murders from the week before. The gun was used to kill three French Afghani War veterans of Arab descent. The same modus operandi was used for these murders as well.

Neo-Nazis? The three thought to be responsible were released after being questioned by French authorities. Islamists? Perhaps. Jew-hatred is part of their credo and they do not take kindly that other Moslems fight against the Taliban. Combination of the two somehow? Or just a lone spawn of Satan that has stayed in the shadows until he decided to emerge? Honestly I have no idea. Frighteningly no one else does either.

But what it proves is that there are those in the world who still think that Jews are not entitled to life because they are Jews. People firing over 300 rockets into civilian populated territory in the south of Israel last week. Not one word of condemnation anywhere for this war crime. (Shouldn't be surprised really, where is the world for the Syrian civilians being butchered.) Heightened security around the world at all Jewish institutions once again. It never ends.

The EU spokesperson actually had the nerve to equate the death of the children at the Yeshiva to those children who are used as humanshields by terrorists. Not that she put the blame for those killed in war on the terrorists, no she blamed the defending army, Israel. Listen this is not to make light by any means, of any child that dies in war for any reason. This is a diatribe on where to put the blame. War is evil in and of itself, but there are ways to try to minimize the evil. Nations are entitled to defend themselves. That is also what the rules of war are all about.

Its as if the EU decided that the US and NATO forces cannot defend themselves against terror when the Taliban uses humanshields, which by the way they do and the terrorists in Iraq did the same. The EU spokesperson put the blame on those fighting the terror not those who hide behind civilians hoping for civilian casualties, or perhaps she means only Jews are not allowed to defend themselves in these situations. I suppose British military command should ask her since she is a British citizen. Today she says she was misquoted.....yeah right. She claims a sentence was left out of the statement. I suppose even though English is her native tongue she had trouble reading the English statement right in front of her. (No she has no problems reading other statements.)

I always say that the Holocaust was doubly frightening for me. First my children would be targeted because they are Jews and second they would be targeted because they are disabled. So here we sit 70 years after the most horrific genocide known to mankind, the Holocaust, and humanity has learned nothing...absolutely nothing.

And the fight goes on...unless we can rocket off this planet we actually have no choice...so fight the good fight, stand and be counted but never, ever let the haters see you cry.

P.S. My title is a play on the title of an article in Commentary Magazine. Now come on you all had to know that I read that website daily.

UPDATE: Associated terrorist or lone wolf psycho?

The French police have identified the murderer in Toulouse. A Frenchman of Algerian descent, Mohammad Mehra, who says he is part of Al-Quaida. Reports are that he actually was in custody in Afghanistan but escaped with the help of the Taliban. French security agencies had him under surveillance for years. Really? Really?

He claims to have murdered in the name of Palestinian children harmed last week. Interesting after last week's twitter exchange proving that the pictures of bloodied and harmed Palestinian children tweeted by a UN official and others, were proven to be falsehoods. The lieing UN official has not been fired but is being protected by the Arab and Islamic bloc. The UNHRC just invited a leader from Hamas, which calls for a worldwide genocide against Jews, promotes the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and denies the Holocaust, to speak before its committee. Question..how much complicity does the UN then share for the murders in Toulouse? In fact how much complicity do all the media outlets, world government officials and NGOs that promote antisemitism share for the murders? Read HERE

The FM of Palestine denounced this statement. Odd considering that the Palestinians themselves celebrate the murder of Jewish children with fireworks, sweets, naming of streets and village squares after these killers and handing out shahid playing cards. Obnoxious bullshit.

Right now Mehra's apartment building is surrounded. He said he would surrender at noon after he ate lunch. OK?

UPDATE 2:

It is evening in Toulouse and Mehra has not emerged. His neighbors have all been removed to safety. The apartment building is surrounded by over 300 French police and special units.

Today they buried all of Mehra's victims. The soldiers were buried with military honors in France. The Rabbi, his sons and the young girl killed were all buried in Jerusalem.

The bodies of Mehra's Jewish victims right before burial. Religious Jews are not buried in a coffin but in a shroud. Adult Jewish men are wrapped in their prayer shawls (talit) at burial and it seems that the boys have been wrapped in prayer shawls as well. Some families buy the prayer shawls that their sons will wear on the Bar Mitzvah when they are born. It is also at tradition that someone sit with the bodies until they are buried. Usually they are reading Psalms out loud. This is to honor those that have died.

UPDATE 3: 11.03 French time, the Interior minister of France announced that the suspect Mohammed Mehra was dead. He apparently jumped from a window as police assaulted the building where he was hold-up. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

KEEP CALM

LEGEND

For those who are new to this blog below are the acronyms and who they belong to:

WoS aka hubby: Wise Old Sage. Name given to the husband by the boys..as opposed to me whom they just refer to as a pain in the tuchas

HSB aka highschoolboy: my younger son who is now a high school graduate.

CM1 aka collegeman: this is a moniker for my oldest who is a college graduate. We are calling him collegeman1 because his brother is collegeman2. However, CM1 is starting a masters graduate program this fall and will now, from 5/18/13, be referred to as Mr. GS or Mr. Graduate Student. He graduated with a Masters degree in Computer Science May 2015. Now our goal for him is to integrate him into an adult life, he is Mr. Young Man or Mr.YM. In the ensuing 6 months it has been decided that Mr.YM would go back to school for an additional Masters degree in software engineering, so he is now back to being Mr.GS1.

CM2 aka HSB now Mr. GS2: formerly highschoolboy who is now a college senior. He is known as collegeman2. But don't tell him, he thinks nicknaming him collegeman is idiotic, sophomoric and just plain dumb. So we will keep this just between us. He graduated with a BA May 2015. He was accepted into a Masters program in Media and Communications, so now he is Mr. Graduate Student2, or Mr. GS2.